While Washington and Charles were discussing how to move south and fight the British army, General D'Estaing, commander of the French Navy fleet, could no longer sit still.
He was not so keen on participating in the war with the British, and after failing to pursue the British Navy cruisers, he naturally had little interest in a meeting where he only listened to others discuss battle plans.
Remembering a secret rendezvous with a certain noblewoman, he prepared to leave early.
Seizing a lull in the conversation between Charles and Washington, he interjected:
"Your Excellency, Commander-in-Chief, Councilor Godfrey, and all the generals of the Continental army, my forces are primarily naval. Although I have a few marines, they should not be able to participate much in land battles. So, I suppose I don't need to continue attending this military meeting, do I? I'll go back first and urge my fleet's sailors to train harder; their recent performance has been truly terrible."
Charles, the chairman of the Military and Ordnance Committee, smiled slightly upon hearing this and immediately spoke to retain him:
"General D'Estaing, our current military operation cannot do without your Navy. Charlestown is on the coast; without the cooperation of the Navy, the British could easily use their cruisers to retreat quickly. It is only with your Navy that we can formulate a plan to annihilate them."
"Oh, you want me to attack them from the sea?" D'Estaing hesitated.
Attacking land from the sea, while possible, carried a particularly high risk of damage to the warships.
"Not only an attack from the sea, but also a naval battle, to destroy all British warships off the coast of Charlestown and cut off the retreat of the British army in Charlestown," Charles added with a smile.
"Furthermore, Your Excellency, General, previously British cruisers could run around at sea without any fighting spirit. Now with so many British army soldiers on shore, British cruisers cannot casually leave the coast. At that time, your large warships can force those cruisers to engage. I believe that with the fighting power of the French Navy, they will surely defeat these British clowns in a direct battle."
This Battle of Charlestown, he wondered if it would be a complete victory like the one in history.
The current time period was already completely different from the historical Battle of Charlestown, but the various conditions around Charlestown were very consistent with the situation before that historical Battle of Charlestown.
The British army was similarly trapped in the small town, and the supporting forces were slow to arrive. When the only retreat route, the naval warships, were also destroyed by the French, the British had no choice but to surrender.
"You can force them to engage?" D'Estaing immediately became excited.
"Ha! Our valiant French Navy can absolutely defeat an equal number of British Navy ships in a direct battle. What's more, they only have a few small cruisers now; sinking them will be no problem at all."
He felt that failing to chase the British Navy was more humiliating than being directly defeated by the British Navy.
He had always firmly believed that if he fought the British Navy head-on, his fleet would never lose to an opponent of equal combat power.
"Indeed, the current British army commander in Charlestown is still the overall commander of all British-American forces stationed in America.
Those British army cruisers certainly wouldn't dare abandon him and flee.
Perhaps when Cornwallis boards a warship, you'll even have a chance to capture this British army commander alive," Charles said, tempting him.
Regardless, such a naval fleet was still a very powerful presence for America at present.
He could not miss such an asset when fighting the British army.
"Haha! Alright, then I am also willing to participate in the battle for Charlestown, but... who commands whom?" D'Estaing asked a very tricky question.
Charles and Washington exchanged glances, and finally, Washington answered the question.
"General D'Estaing, I think the army and Navy operate separately, so there shouldn't be a need to consider who commands whom. In fact, even if we wanted to command, we couldn't. So I think it's best if we simply set the operational objectives here today, and then each fights independently on the battlefield."
"Good!" D'Estaing immediately agreed with a smile.
Although he believed he could also command the army well, he truly couldn't command the army from a warship. Given a choice between the army and Navy, he still preferred to command the Navy.
Subsequently, the various parties began to discuss specific operational arrangements, including logistics and supply, as well as defensive arrangements for the north and Philadelphia after Washington's army moved south.
By late November, it had already begun to snow in the north, which was unfavorable for war, and temperatures had also dropped sharply in the south.
Washington, with five thousand regular Continental army troops (after adding the Philadelphia forces), moved south to rendezvous with a portion of the Continental army detached by General Greene, preparing to jointly attack Charlestown in Virginia.
At the same time, the naval fleet led by French General D'Estaing also moved south by sea, planning to blockade the waters off Charlestown, attacking all British warships that came to protect Charlestown.
They were already prepared to begin clearing out British army ships in the small harbor of Charlestown once the American forces' land encirclement of Charlestown was formed, then approach the town and attack the British army in Charlestown with naval artillery.
Six months later, the flames of war reignited on the American continent.
Charles did not go south but spent his time in Philadelphia.
After half a year of recuperation, Philadelphia had fundamentally restored its former bustle, but given the significant population loss during the defense, it was impossible to recover immediately.
Furthermore, many people realized that Philadelphia was not yet a truly safe city, so its recovery had left it far less prosperous than before.
Fortunately, because this battle was in Charlestown, Virginia, Philadelphia's reconstruction was not affected.
Charles held a small dinner party at the Diana family castle, inviting not political dignitaries, but his business partners and several well-known large industrial and commercial enterprise owners from the north.
The increasingly mature Diana Rogers displayed the demeanor of a noble lady, helping Charles entertain guests at the banquet, freeing him from the bother of tedious etiquette.
The longer they spent together, their relationship had become increasingly clear, lacking only a formal marriage to acknowledge their bond.
However, Charles was unwilling to hastily marry Diana due to the instability in Philadelphia, and Diana herself had become very opinionated, feeling it was best to inform her father in England.
"Thank you very much for your hospitality, Your Excellency Councilor Godfrey.
The dinner was very rich!"
After the dinner, the guests sat in the castle, drinking tea, and at the same time did not forget to thank Charles, the host.
"Sirs, you are all my old friends, so there is no need to be polite.
This was just a simple meal; let's talk about serious matters," Charles said modestly with a smile.
"We are willing to obey your command, Your Esteemed 'Defender of Philadelphia'!" another merchant flattered.
Charles had grown accustomed to such flattery recently and paid no mind to it.
After looking around and finding that everyone had no objections, he smiled and brought up the main topic of the evening's invitation.
"Haha! I've recently found a new business path and would like to discuss a collaborative development with everyone."
"Oh, what kind of business path is it?" old Biddle, one of the guests, immediately pressed.
Everyone knew that Charles had recently issued stocks in Pittsburgh and made a lot of money.
Many of the people sitting here today, because their industrial centers were in Philadelphia, did not participate in the Pittsburgh stock market.
These people all felt very regretful for missing such an opportunity to get rich.
Given that Charles had come up with so many lucrative businesses in the past two years, everyone greatly admired his business acumen.
Even if Charles just pointed at a large rock and said, "Open it, there's gold inside," these people would immediately bring axes and chisels to smash open the rock.
Hearing that he had discovered a new business path, everyone was naturally very interested.
—
"Sirs, you all know that our Continental army is preparing to move south to actively engage the British army in Virginia, right?"
"Yes, although the news of the army's southward movement hasn't spread widely yet, we already know about it."
Such a large military operation could not be kept completely secret, and these big merchants all had their own upper-level channels, so obtaining this not-so-secret information was not difficult.
"You should all have some understanding of the economic situation in the Southern States.
Although many of the wealthiest people in our United States are Northerners, the average economic level is still not as high as in the Southern States.
The South produces expensive tobacco, and its economy mainly relies on exporting raw materials to Europe.
However, even though they have money and raw materials, they generally do not buy our industrial products from the North, nor do they sell us cheap raw materials," Charles said in a deep tone.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
However, everyone also understood the South's approach; Northern industrial products were inherently not as good as Europe's, and the North could not consume much of the South's raw materials.
"But in this war, the British have blockaded our coastline, so the South's raw materials cannot be sold, and industrial products cannot come in.
This is absolutely a good opportunity to promote our Northern products and help sell the South's backlog of materials," Charles stated his conclusion.
With the army leading the way and goods occupying the rear, this was the most common form of aggression in the early stages of capitalism.
And for the Southern States, with their economy similar to a feudal society, economic occupation through goods was undoubtedly the most effective form.
Historically, during the war of Independence, the South primarily relied on militia guerrillas, fighting very fiercely, but the industrial and commercial economy of the North did not take the opportunity to invade the chaotic South.
Instead, shortly after the war, the South's economy once again relied on Europe as a major trading partner.
Although the war of Independence was victorious, in reality, the economies of the North and South were not unified, and the independent United States was not a complete nation.
Therefore, some also say that the American war of Independence was not a thorough bourgeois revolution, and half a century later, it was forced to undergo another civil war.
Only after the American Civil war, when the politics and economy of the North and South were completely unified, was it considered to have completed a true bourgeois revolution.
Charles was originally not averse to the Southern plantation economy based on slavery, but as his industrial and mining enterprises developed, he increasingly needed a vast market.
He now didn't even let go of desolate areas like Louisiana, so how could he miss the several wealthy Southern States?
So, after arranging for the Continental army to move south, he immediately called these big merchants and prepared to incite them to move south with his merchant caravan to invade the Southern States' economic sphere.
"You mean, to use this war as an opportunity to annex the Southern economy, making them a market for Northern goods and a source of resources?" old Biddle said, stunned.
Although the Biddle family had invested in many industries, they did not have many industrial and commercial enterprises, so their demand for markets and resources was not as strong as Charles'.
But the other merchants were different; they were all chosen by Charles, being the most productive in the North and most in need of expanding their sales markets.
Upon hearing Charles' proposal, one representative immediately stated:
"Councilor Charles, we are willing to go south with you and divide up the Southern market."
After hearing this person's statement, the other merchants immediately chimed in:
"Yes, we should seize this opportunity to make the Southern States' plantations serve our factories."
"Before, they always looked down on us.
Now that they are facing much greater difficulties than us, we should seize this opportunity to teach them a good lesson.
They wouldn't even sell things to us at higher prices before; this time, I will definitely buy low and sell high, making all their money."
"Hahahaha!" Charles burst into laughter.
"Everyone, don't speak so cruelly; we are not trying to annex them.
In fact, doing this is still to help them.
Currently, the South lacks various supplies, and agricultural products cannot be sold and are often piled up and burned by the Hessian army.
We are going south to cooperate with them.
Although we may inevitably buy low and sell high due to our economic needs, everyone is facing difficulties, and only by enduring together can there be a future.
In a few years, they will thank us for our actions today."
He had long known that these people were profit-driven and, seeing the poor economic situation in the South, would certainly kick them while they were down.
However, he truly needed the assistance of these large Northern industrial and commercial enterprises.
Without them, it would be difficult for him alone to tie the South, this industrial and agricultural raw material production base, to the Northern war machine.
Although the South might suffer a little grievance now, in the long run, it was indeed something that benefited everyone.
While Charles was discussing with these big merchants how to divide up some of the large farms and markets in the South, he did not forget to remind them not to go too far, being careful not to push the South towards the British.